Patrick Hill

Selected works by Patrick Hill

Patrick HillForming

2007

Glass, steel granite, canvas, dye, paint, glue

274.3 x 304.8 x 213.4 cm

Patrick Hill’s sculptures evolve from a sophisticated entwining of philosophical ideals in art history. His works – made from concrete substances such as stone, metal, and glass – are reminiscent of Constructivist artists such as Naum Gabo, whose industrial media was emblematic of 20th century progress and optimism. In Forming, Hill combines sculptural form with references to painting, incorporating tinted canvas into his composition. The soft redpurple hue is the result of a process of hand-dying, using pigments derived from plants, fruits, and vegetables; the organic aesthetic countering the rigid elements of glass and granite. Hill uses these references as a platform to engage with his own highly original approach to abstraction that highlights the precarious balance between the imposed harmony of structural order and the erratic perfection of nature.

Patrick HillDancer (Pole)

2011

Wood, dye, white Carrara Marble, one way mirror

153.7 x 147.3 x 182.9 cm

Patrick HillMagnolia Blvd. (detail)

2006

Wood, glass, canvas, denim, brass, dye, bleach

124 x 81 x 213 cm

Titled after the infamous San Fernando Valley street, Hill’s Magnolia Blvd exudes a tarnished suburban glamour. Glass panels, pierced with bronze piping, are mounted on a wooden base creating a framework of modern design elegance. Draped with pink and yellow canvases, Hill’s sculpture is visually arresting and seductive in its tactility. The folds of the fabric create juxtaposition between hard-edged composition and naturalistic forms that suggest the delicate folds of flowers or the sensual pliability of skin. Coating the material with a variety of materials, including botanical dyes, oil, and syrup, Hill’s canvases embody the tension between chemical reaction and biological decay, creating a monument that alludes to both iconic style and corrosive enchantment.

Articles

PATRICK HILL, THE RELIANCE, UK

For many years now the Lyle's Golden Syrup tin has born the same bizarre emblem: a dead lion, from whose slashed belly rises a buzzing cloud of bees. Beneath this run the words -rom strength, sweetness- as though to imply that the tin's gloopy contents were derived, via some ineffable insect activity, from the fallen big cat. I'm not sure if the Los Angeles-based sculptor Patrick Hill has encountered this particular product (it's hard to imagine something so British being stocked by California's corner stores), but its packaging speaks of many of the concerns of 'Golden Syrup', his first UK solo show.

Like the image of the dead lion, the three works at The Reliance are preoccupied with penetration, fecundity and fading strength, but also, like the grouping and regrouping bees, with the fugitiveness of form. If we visualize the viscous substance inside the Lyle's tin (and the relationship between a container and its contents, a body and its various liquids, is key to Hill's work), we discover another vital set of co-ordinates. Golden syrup recalls the slow pour of a Hollywood sun, but also the fluids expended in the porn studios of the San Fernando Valley. To the taste, this amber substance is actually sweeter than sugar - the saccharine equivalent of free-base cocaine.